Iran's dreams of a place in the last 16 of the World Cup were ended by goals from Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, Miralem Pjanic and Avdija Vrsajevic as Bosnia-Herzegovina's tournament ended with a 3-1 win.
The Europeans had already made history in reaching the World Cup for the first time in their country's short existence while Iran, who had won just one of 11 previous games at the tournament, were looking to set their own landmark by making it through to the knockout stage.
Group F winners Argentina kept their side of the bargain by beating Nigeria but Iran never looked like securing the victory they needed to progress and Reza Ghoochannejhad's late consolation was immediately followed by Bosnia's third from Vrsajevic - a first for his country.
Dzeko looked lively early on so it was no surprise when he opened the scoring after 23 minutes.
Iran's solid defence against Argentina had won plaudits even in defeat to a late Lionel Messi goal but with victory imperative in Salvador they left themselves a lot more open and Bosnia had no trouble exposing them.
